Previewing The NASCAR Playoffs Heading To The Magic Mile At New Hampshire

Column By: AMY HARROP / RPW – LOUDON, NH – This weekend, New Hampshire Motor Speedway is hosting its final NASCAR Playoffs weekend for the near future.

After it was announced earlier this season that the September playoff date was to be replaced by Las Vegas in 2018, the track vowed to make this the best-ever sendoff for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

David McGrath was present in the media center on Friday afternoon, announcing that in 2018, NHMS will be hosting a special race weekend in place of the Cup Series race weekend. “It’s going to be the new ‘not-to-miss’ event in the fall,” he said. In 2018, the track will be hosting a 2-day event, headlined by a 250-lap Whelen Modified Tour event. The track will also host a 125-lap global K&N event and a 100-lap Pinty’s Series event, which will be the Canadian series’ first event in the United States. Timmy Solomito and Doug Coby were on hand for the announcement, which was also a complete surprise to both drivers. “Change is always a good thing…it brings excitement to our series,” Timmy Said. Doug Coby was in agreement, saying, “This is a big step for the NASCAR touring series…it’s pretty exciting to have this opportunity.”

Championship contender Chase Elliott received a hefty penalty after Chicagoland race last weekend, receiving an L1 penalty regarding a “downforce advantage” that the #24 team had over the competition. His crew chief Alan Gustafson was suspended for one race, and both Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports were deducted 15 driver/team points following the infraction. Matt Kenseth also had a “safety” infraction, which was a lug nut issue. His crew chief Jonathan Hanson was fined $5,000.

Martin Truex Jr. was the big winner in Chicagoland, capturing the victory and punching his ticket to the second round of the playoffs. Truex comes into this weekend with a 27 point advantage over the #42 of Kyle Larson, who is statistically very strong at NHMS. Kyle Larson dominated most of the race weekend in July, capturing the pole and staying on the top of the leaderboard in practice sessions for the entirety of the weekend.

While drivers like Truex Jr. and Larson are coming into the weekend with confidence, drivers like Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. find themselves out of round 2 contention while Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon are in contention but sitting on the bubble.
In his press conference on Friday afternoon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. discussed his troubles last week in Chicago, saying, “We had an ill-driving Fastenal Ford all weekend last weekend and really couldn’t get a handle on it, and then that was compounded by some mistakes that I made throughout the race. That was a bummer, but New Hampshire is a track that I feel like we run decent at.”

A handful of championship contenders are strong at NHMS, including defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie has 3 wins at New Hampshire. Hendrick Motorsports drivers have had troubles scoring stage points over the course of the season, which is worrisome for Johnson. “Those bonus points are huge…we didn’t leave the track (last week) with the eighth most points scored. It was much worse than that, and it’s a problem,” he said in his press conference.

Jimmie was optimistic about team improvement coming into the weekend, but things turned sour for the #48 team early in the first practice, where he slammed the turn 3 wall on the first lap, forcing his team into a backup car. Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate and fellow championship contender Chase Elliott faced the same troubles in the first practice, hitting the wall in the same spot as the #48. This incident forced the #24 into a backup car as well.

Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin also have 3 wins at the track. Hamlin, the defending winner at NHMS, statistically performs well at NHMS in both the XFINITY Series and the Cup Series. “It’s a great racetrack for us…hopefully we give ourselves a better chance to win. We can’t count on our competitors making mistakes, which happened last time around,” he said. Kurt Busch’s fall 2004 victory at NHMS set him up for a championship run, where he eventually went on to secure his first NASCAR championship.

Although Kyle Busch only has one Cup Series win at New Hampshire, he has had huge success at the track in both the XFINITY Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Kyle wound up on the pole for Sunday’s Cup Series race, posting the fastest lap of 135.049 mph. “You always try to capitalize on your strategies through the rounds (of qualifying)…we just need to be able to do it again on Sunday,” he said in his post-qualifying press conference.

Joey Logano might not be a frontrunner for the championship this season, but he has some NHMS victories under his belt and can shake things up this weekend while competing on his home turf. This is also the final NHMS start for fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., which is sure to be an emotional event for the Junior Nation faithful here in the Northeast.

NHMS General Manager David McGrath presented Dale Jr. with “The Patriots” in his press conference, gifting the driver with a handmade musket, a traditional Patriot war hat and other items, all presented to him by a group of men dressed in traditional Patriot uniform. “The New England fans are so passionate about their racing. They’ve embraced their races and they are so proud of their heritage,” he said in his press conference. He also mentioned that this weekend’s race will not be his last visit to NHMS. Over the course of his press conference, Earnhardt Jr. expressed his disdain of drivers that blow out their tires during their burnout ceremonies, which greatly affects the outcome of technical inspection in his eyes. Other than focusing on the burnout situation, Jr. took the time to praise how “fun” he thinks NHMS is to race at. “It’s hard to pass, but in a fun way. It’s old school,” he said.

New England’s own Kaz Grala is making his return to NHMS this weekend, where he finished 7th in 2016. “I’m just excited to be home. This is one that I always look forward to,” he said on Friday. He mentioned that his stomping grounds are only an hour away and that this is the only track in the playoffs that he has experience with, giving him a little boost of confidence coming into the UNOH 150 on Saturday. Grala currently sits eighth in the point standings, 35 points behind points leader Christopher Bell. Bell was the runner-up in this race last year and currently sits in the points lead with a 15 point advantage over Johnny Sauter. Sauter has been strong at NHMS in the past, accumulating a handful of top ten finishes over the course of his career.

Doug Coby is a force to be reckoned with in the Whelen Modified Tour, collecting four race wins at NHMS over the course of his career. Coby is currently sitting second in points with one win and nine top 5’s on the season. Bobby Santos, who won this race in July, has one win and 4 top five finishes on the season. Ryan Preece is currently sitting in first in the point standings, but he is racing in Kentucky this weekend in the XFINITY Series. Timmy Solomito is another strong driver at NHMS who’s still looking for his first win of the season. NASCAR star Ryan Newman is a constant figure in the Modified Tour at NHMS and always puts on strong performances. Today, he sat on top of the leaderboard in final practice in his #77 Curb Records Modified with the best lap of 182.190 mph. He went on to qualify on the pole for tomorrow’s feature event, topping the leaderboard at 131.556 mph. When asked what he likes about racing Modifieds on Friday afternoon, Newman listed off a handful of things. “The cars, the drivers, the people, the racetrack…it’s just about having fun. It’s a lot of fun to drive,” he said.

Modified legend Ted Christopher loved coming to New Hampshire and had 5 wins at the track over the course of his career, which was devastatingly cut too short. Drivers like Jimmie Johnson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. chimed in about his loss, showcasing the devastation felt by the racing community. “I know all the Modified guys up here looked up to somebody like him and what he’s able to accomplish, so it’s a huge loss this week. You never want to see that, dx,especially something tragic like that,” Stenhouse said. Jimmie Johnson reminisced on his early days of racing and meeting Ted Christopher, adding, “He will be missed…he was such an icon in the area.”

This weekend, the ACT tour returns to New Hampshire. Scott Payea is the defending race winner in the series, collecting a win in the Labor Day Classic 200 just a few short weeks ago. He currently sits first in the point standings with a hefty 37 point lead. Dillon Moltz and Jason Corliss are also strong contenders. Moltz has one win on the season, but Corliss is still searching for his first series victory as he sits 3rd in points and is the top rookie on the season.

Saturday and Sunday are sure to be exciting at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, with 4 of the biggest divisions in the sport being put on display at New England’s most popular speedway. It’s only a matter of time until we find out who will end out on top on Sunday, beating out the competition in the 300-lap showdown where the winner will be reliant on being able to pass cars on a “tough-to pass” track like New Hampshire.